Sleeping Tony
by TheEpicPenguin
Summary: After the Avengers are cursed by a witch, each of them is destined to fall prey to a different Fairy Tale curse. Tony Stark is the last person you'd expect to believe in Fairy Tales, yet his story is the first to unfold. Will Pepper and the other Avengers truly allow themselves to believe in the idea of a curse? And if so, will they be able to find a way to break the spell?
1. Prologue

**Quick Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, nor its characters, nor Sleeping Beauty. I am simply a fan. This is my first Avengers fic, so I can only hope I'm doing these guys justice. As always, reviews are welcome. Thanks for reading!**

 **-EpicPenguin**

* * *

Prologue: Magic Is No Fantasy

The witch looked like she had escaped straight from the pages of a storybook. Scraggly gray hair, ancient wrinkled face, even a wart on the tip of her long, hooked nose. She was pretty damn powerful, though, possessing not only magic but also an army of large mutant rats and wicked ravens that were the size of small fighter jets. Eventually, after a long battle, the Avengers finally had her surrounded.

"You think you've defeated me?" she screeched, looking at the assembled heroes. "You think getting rid of magic is as easy as destroying the vessel? Mark my words, I shall have my revenge!—"

With a hair-raising scream, she erupted in a great mushroom cloud of red smoke. It billowed outwards, engulfing the Avengers where they stood. As the smoke swept over them, they felt a curious sensation, as though someone had draped a heavy blanket over their heads.

When the cloud cleared, they stared at the pile of ash that had once been their adversary. Finally, Tony voiced what they all were thinking.

"What the hell was that?"

* * *

"A _curse?_ " Tony laughed, leaning back in his chair. "You've _got_ to be kidding."

"Does it look like I'm in a mood to be joking around?" Fury asked.

"Well, I mean—" Tony looked around at the others' solemn faces. "Oh, come on, _no one_ else thinks that this sounds ridiculous?"

"We've seen aliens destroy Manhattan, Stark. Is there anything that's too ridiculous for us to believe at this point?" said Steve.

"That's different. That's technology—alien technology, but still. This is _magic_ we're talking about here _._ It's fantasy," said Tony.

"Magic is no fantasy, Man of Iron," said Thor gravely. "Loki is proof enough of that. Director Fury is right to be concerned."

"Aw, c'mon. There's gotta be a scientific explanation behind that spear. We just haven't found it yet."

"It's been examined by some of the best scientists in the world, yourself and Dr. Banner included," said Fury. "Or are you saying you're not the top in your field?"

"It's not a question of—"

"Tony, please. We don't have time for this," said Bruce quietly from beside him.

"As I was _saying,_ " snapped Fury, "I don't like what that woman said. _'Getting rid of magic isn't as easy as just destroying the vessel.'_ Since you all didn't get to her before she exploded, we could very well end up with magic all over this city now."

"So you're telling us to keep our eyes peeled?" asked Clint.

"No, I'm telling you that this means what's left of SHIELD isn't going to have time to sit around keeping watch over your sorry asses," he said. "So make sure you watch yourselves. Magic is nothing to mess with!"

"Don't worry. We'll keep an eye on Stark," said Natasha.

"Good," said Fury. "We've got our best people working on figuring out what sort of a curse it was, but we're new to this sort of thing. So until we know, don't do anything stupid. That's all I'm saying."


	2. The Birthday Party

Chapter 1: The Birthday Party

The muzak in the elevator was Tchaikovsky. When it was just Tony riding, he usually had JARVIS blare something AC/DC, but once Pepper had expressed her dislike for heavy metal, he'd reprogrammed the software to put on something classical whenever it registered her biological scan. Tony eyed Pepper's small black suitcase.

"How'd you manage to fit everything into one small bag?"

"It's only a three-day trip," she said.

"Right, but in my experience, women usually need to rent a cargo plane if they're going anywhere for longer than a night."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I'm not like most women."

"Damn right, you're not," he said quickly. "You're much better."

"Mmm. Better, how?"

"In—in good ways. That, um, that 'cargo plane' thing wasn't a good thing to say, was it?"

"You think?"

"I was just saying, you know, women have a lot more stuff to pack than guys do. Like makeup. Uhhh, hair dryers. Stuff like that. Let's see, what else—?"

"I'd quit while you're ahead," she advised him. Tony ran a hand through his hair.

"You know what, just forget it. Forget I said anything. Let's talk about something else. Like the party! Yeah, so, did you place that order for the food yet? 'Cause I'm thinking—"

"I'm your girlfriend, not your party planner," she said dryly.

"—'cause I'm thinking maybe we should just skip dinner and go straight for the happy hour; am I right?"

"Tony—" she said. The elevator slowed to a stop, the doors opening with a gentle _ding._

"I'm still making up the guest list, but if you need a ballpark, I'm thinking somewhere in the realm of six hundred, maybe seven; we'll probably need more hors' d'oeuvres—"

"Tony, wait. We need to—"

"—that's okay, though; you know, I can never resist those little tiny crab cakes; it'd probably be better to have more of them anyway. Ooh, d'you reckon we'll have enough cake? Or should we just assume that people are gonna be so drunk that they're not even gonna notice if they don't get a piece?—"

"Tony, wait. We need to talk about this." She sped up and planted herself in front of him. "Would you listen to me, just shut up for half a minute and _listen_ to me!"

"—'cause those kinds of parties are always the best; alright, alright, what is it?"

"I don't think this is a good idea."

"What, you think we should have enough cake for everybody? Eh, you're probably right; it's a pretty risky business; I mean, if you're invited to a birthday party, you kind of expect there to be cake—"

"No, that's not it; stop; that's not what I'm saying; I'm _saying_ that we should postpone the party," she said, talking over him. He stopped.

"What?"

"Just until this whole business blows over."

"You can't possibly talking about that whole _curse_ thing?" he said. "I didn't think you were superstitious."

"You don't know what you're up against here. Maybe it's all just a hoax, but what if it's not?"

"It's totally a hoax. What, do you think someone's going to slip a voodoo doll under my pillow or something?"

"Well, I doubt that when Fury said 'stay safe,' he meant 'throw a birthday party with six hundred people the following weekend.'"

"Seven hundred," he corrected, as they exited the Tower. "Oh, come on. Since when have I ever listened to what Fury says?"

"About as often as you've listened to what _I_ say," she said. At the curb, a car was already waiting for her. The driver came up to take her suitcase, but she kept her gaze focused on Tony.

"Nothing, literally _nothing_ is going to happen, okay?" he said. "I don't believe in curses."

"And just because _you_ don't believe in something, that makes it not true."

"Aren't you gonna miss your flight or something?" He gestured to the car.

"Just postpone the party; you don't have to cancel it—"

"—Also, if you could get in touch with the caterer; tell him we're gonna need more cake, enough for two hundred more, but if he can still shape the thing to look like my suit, that'd be great—"

"—Tony, listen to yourself; you're talking fast again; when you try to talk over me I _know_ it means you're scared, so please, show some wisdom for once in your life—!"

"—g*d, wouldn't it be cool if the cake could actually shoot lasers out of its hands? Maybe I should—"

"—because if _you_ don't postpone it, then I will; I swear to g*d—!" She took out her phone.

"—oh, come on; don't do that; everything's gonna be okay; it'll be fine, I promise—!"

She hit a button. Tony was speechless for a second.

"Did…did you really just…"

"What do you think?" she said icily.

"How did you even get the guest list?"

"You forget, I'm your party planner."

"Oh, come on." He blew out a breath. "Dammit. Why? Why would you do that!?"

"I'm trying to keep you safe."

"But _nothing_ is going to happen!"

"You don't _know_ that!" Pepper took a deep, calming breath. "The guests have all got a memo saying that the party is rescheduled three weeks from tomorrow."

"What if _I_ send out a memo saying the party's on?" he said.

"Then I'll send another one," she said.

"You'll send a memo _after_ my memo cancelling your memo?"

"As many as it takes." Her green eyes bored into him like lasers. "This party will _not_ happen. Not this weekend. I don't care what you do, or what I have to do."

There was a long pause. Tony stared at her.

"You're worried about me."

"Oh, no, of course not. I'm just worried about keeping my job."

"I thought your job was being my party canceller, I mean, planner."

" _No,_ my job is to save you from your own stupidity," she said. "Tony, if something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'd—"

"You'd be the next CEO of Stark Industries," he said.

"I—no, that's not what I meant—"

"Yeah, I know." He lowered his voice. "Look, it'll be okay. A few weeks here or there won't matter, I guess."

" _Swear_ to me you won't change anything," she pressed.

"I won't. I promise."

"You'd better not."

There was another pause.

"Nothing's going to happen to me, you know that?" he said.

She closed her eyes briefly. He reached out to brush back a lock of her hair, but the driver suddenly cleared his throat.

"Oh, right. You have to go." He stepped back. Pepper climbed inside, the driver shutting the door. He watched the car disappear around the building, before he went back to his lab. He snapped at Dum-E and flopped onto his stool, barely listening as JARVIS tried to update him on the progress on the Mark-Whatever suit.

 _Dammit._ Why did he always have to be such an a**hole?


	3. Sleeping Tony

Chapter 2: Sleeping Tony

Three days later, Tony's 44th birthday dawned bright and clear. Aside from an occasional text saying that meeting _X_ had gone well, he hadn't heard from Pepper at all these last few days. He assumed she was still mad at him from their exchange before she left, and he didn't try to change her mind. But still, he never thought she'd have let his _birthday_ go by without calling. He kept his phone with him all day, expecting it to ring at any moment, but it never did. Had he really been _that_ much of a jerk to her?

Yeah, he had. Wasn't he always?

He spent the day moping around his floor in Avengers Tower, not in the mood to work on much of anything. Clearly, word had got around about his and Pepper's fight—he swore this place was more like a giant sorority than a headquarters—because most of the other Avengers dropped in over the course of the day. Sam Wilson and Bucky had baked cupcakes (red velvet with yellow icing.) Steve gave him a handshake and a sketch he'd done of one of Tony's suits. Bruce came down for several hours to bat around ideas for the Hydresium Fusion Simulator, and though Tony would never have admitted it, he was grateful for the company. Thor showed up unexpectedly and nearly crushed him to death in a giant manly bear hug. Even Natasha, who was off on a mission in Russia with Clint, had managed to hack her way past the tower's firewall to send an e-card.

As far as birthdays go, it wouldn't have been half bad, if it hadn't been for the invisible elephant between him and Pepper.

He dialed her number for the umpteenth time. It rang, but eventually went to voicemail. He sighed.

"Hey, it's me again. Listen, um, I just wanted to say that you were right. I was a jerk to you the other day, a total jerk, and I'm sorry. I feel like maybe you're the one who's sending all the other guys down here, and that's really sweet, but it's a pretty miserable birthday without you. If you're still mad, that's fine. But, if you get this message and you want to give me a call…I love you, okay? Bye."

* * *

Pepper's phone buzzed on the conference table's polished surface. She glanced at it long enough to see Tony's number on the screen, but then pocketed it. She'd have loved to talk to him, but there just wasn't time. She was determined to get through this meeting as quickly as possible, in order to fly back to New York in time for the day's grand finale.

She had felt awful having to cancel Tony's party. The guy was a true diva, after all; he felt unloved without a fuss. She refused to let his birthday go by without at least a little celebration, even if it was just a surprise dinner for two in the tower's rooftop garden.

The instant the meeting was adjourned, Pepper hurried out of the room. The other Avengers had been kind enough to pick up her slack for most of the day, but now it was her turn.

* * *

Back in Avengers Tower, the lab was quiet. In the dark, half-finished projects and supplies sat stationary on the tables. Then, suddenly, an eerie green light began to grow in the center of the room, getting larger and larger. All around, various objects glowed with that same green light, lifting into the air: bits of metal sheeting, old screws, spare pipes. The scraps soared towards the center, as though pulled by some unseen force. Still bathed in green, they quickly began to knit themselves into the shape of a great wheel.

* * *

The late-afternoon sun's rays bathed the living room in a beautiful golden glow, but Tony barely noticed. From his place on the couch, he took the last swig of his beer and launched the bottle into the air, blasting it apart with the single iron man glove he was wearing.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt that same eerie sensation, like an invisible blanket being draped over his head. Before he could react, an alarm went off. JARVIS' voice came on the intercom.

"Sir, there has been a disturbance in the lab."

"Right, I got that," said Tony, trying to shake off the creepy feeling. "What's going on?"

"Something appears to have triggered the motion sensors."

"Who's down there?"

"All of the Avengers are accounted for elsewhere, sir."

He shrugged.

"It's probably just Dum-E knocking stuff over again. How many times have I told that hunk of junk to be careful when he's cleaning?—"

"Dum-E has been inactive for several hours now, sir. It would seem you forgot to charge his battery pack."

"Then what's going on?"

"I couldn't say, sir. The security feed is inaccessible. Something is scrambling the signal."

Tony frowned, finally getting up off the couch.

"Alright. I'll go check it out. Have you locked the place down?"

"Naturally, sir. Shall I request backup?"

"Surely you know me better than that, JARVIS," he said, flexing his iron glove as he entered the elevator. "I'm my own backup."

"I was afraid you'd say that, sir."

* * *

As the elevator started moving downwards, the muzak suddenly fizzled, then cut out. Tony looked up.

"Hey, JARVIS, what's going on?"

"I don't know, sir. Shall I run a scan for electrical-l fa-ul-… ts, - -…s..i..r?..."

Mid-sentence, the AI's voice also sputtered and died.

"JARVIS?" he called. "Hey, JARVIS, you there?"

He got silence for an answer. He waited for the AI to re-route through one of the backup systems, but as the seconds ticked by, nothing happened.

O-kay. This was weird.

When they arrived on the lab floor, Tony exited the elevator and stopped. Through the clear glass windows separating his lab from the lobby, he could see a strange contraption standing in the center of the workshop. Assembled from scrap metal, it looked like a giant wheel on legs—though he couldn't remember ever building anything like it.

"What the…?" he muttered. "Where the hell did you come from?"

He walked over, poking around the mysterious machine.

"Am I building stuff in my sleep, or something? _Or_ —" He glanced over at Dum-E, who sat dormant in the corner. "Or, is this you? Have you been trying to build stuff when I'm not ar— _ow!"_

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his finger. He quickly yanked his hand away, cursing. He'd been so focused on the wheel, he hadn't noticed the needle poking out at one end, its silver tip now stained a deep, vibrant red.

A wave of drowsiness washed over him. He swayed and stumbled, grabbing the edge of a nearby table for support.

"What the hell…?" he murmured. His limbs suddenly felt like lead; his eyes were irresistibly heavy. Had he over-exhausted himself again? But no, this felt different. It felt like he'd been drugged; like he was being dragged down into darkness by some unseen force…Wait.

 _No. No way. Oh, sh*t._

"JARVIS?..." he called, trying to fight it. "JARVIS?—"

No answer. Desperately, he fumbled in his pocket for his phone, but it refused to work, the screen fizzling like the muzak. His legs gave out and he collapsed, the phone clattering away across the floor. As the darkness pulled him under, the last thing he saw was an image of Pepper's anxious face, her green eyes pleading with him to be careful. Then everything went black.


	4. Code 4

Chapter 3: Code 4

"Miss Potts? Hello, Miss Potts; are you there?"

The anxious British voice issued from her purse. She grabbed her phone.

"JARVIS? What's wrong?"

"We have a situation, Code 4. I've lost contact with Mr. Stark."

Her heart started to race. "What do you mean?"

"He was headed down to the lab to investigate a disturbance when we were cut off. Some foreign interference is scrambling all electronic signals within a 100-foot radius of his workshop. I believe we have been compromised."

"Is Tony okay!?" she asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know, madam. Without the ability to perform a scan of the lab, I am unable to assess the situation."

"Get someone down there to check on him, quickly!" she ordered. "Whoever's at the tower!"

"Yes, madam."

She clicked the _End Call_ button and leaned forward to the taxi driver.

"Step on it!"

"But ma'am—"

" _Now!"_

"Okay, okay!"

Turning the wheel, the driver floored the accelerator. They pulled out of the line of traffic and, driving half on the sidewalk, sped past honking cars. Pepper's mind raced, trying to figure out the fastest route to the airport.

 _Hang on, Tony!_

* * *

Steve had just re-entered the Tower with his and Bucky's and Sam's Chinese takeout when JARVIS' voice came on the intercom. The AI asked him to check on Mr. Stark, saying something about a possible crisis in the lab. He took the elevator up to the floor in question, but when he arrived, Tony was nowhere to be seen. The door to the lab was locked, although the lights were on. Steve tapped on the glass.

"Hey, Stark; you in there?"

At first glance, everything inside looked normal. A large metal wheel stood in the center of the room—a recent project, maybe? Then his eye fell on a foot poking out from behind one of the worktables.

"Tony, is that you? You okay in there?"

There was no response. Steve hammered on the glass.

"Stark! This isn't funny! Answer me!"

He got nothing, no sound, no movement. Only the dead could sleep through the racket he'd made. The takeout bag crashed to the floor, and he yanked on the door.

"JARVIS? JARVIS, unlock the door!"

"I'm afraid I can't, Captain. We're on lockdown."

"I think he might be in trouble. You've gotta let me in there!"

"Only Mr. Stark has the authority to override this command, sir."

"Then we'll just have to go for manual override," said Steve, backing up.

"Captain, I would strongly advise against—"

Steve braced himself and ran full speed at the door, ramming it with his shoulder. It took several tries, but eventually the reinforced glass shattered, and he tumbled into the room as the alarm blared out. Ignoring his cuts, he got up and ran towards the workbench. He rounded the corner and stopped cold as he saw Tony lying motionless on the floor.

 _"Tony!"_


	5. Curses and Briars

Chapter 4: Curses and Briars

In the medical bay of Avengers Tower, Bruce dialed Pepper's number. She picked up instantly.

"Bruce? How is he!?"

"He's stable." The scientist reached up beneath his glasses to rub his eyes.

"Please tell me he's gonna be okay."

He hesitated, glancing back at Tony's still form in the hospital bed. On the phone, Pepper could picture him shifting his weight as he tried to figure out how to phrase the bad news in the gentlest way possible.

"We hope so. We're doing everything we can."

"Is that Lady Pepper on your cellular device?" Thor asked suddenly from behind him.

"Yeah, it's her." Bruce turned to him, covering the mouthpiece with his hand. "We promised we'd call when the test results came in."

"Please give her my condolences," said Thor sincerely. "If there is anything she requires, I am more than glad to be of assis—"

"Yeah. I'll tell her. Thanks, Thor." Bruce returned his attention to the phone. Hopefully he wouldn't have to give Pepper _condolences_ just yet, not if they could find a way to help Tony!

"What did the test results show?" she asked.

"All the tests came back negative. So far, he's not showing symptoms of any coma-inducing diseases. None that we know of, at least."

"What about the tox screen?"

"No good. He'd had a few beers, but there were no drugs of any kind in his system, not even those sleep aids he's _supposed_ to be taking."

"But someone _must_ have drugged him, how else could he have ended up like this?" she said.

"Well, that's the thing. We're starting to think…well, we're starting to think this might not exactly be a medical issue."

"What do you mean?"

"It sounds kind of crazy." Bruce glanced down, running a hand over his face.

"Bruce, tell me. What is it?"

"Have you ever heard of Sleeping Beauty?" he said.

"…You mean, the fairy tale?" she asked, after a startled pause.

"Yeah."

"Of course I have, but—I don't understand. Where are you going with this?"

"Well…when we found Tony, he was lying next to a giant spinning wheel. We matched the blood on the spindle to him."

"You're not saying—?" she gasped.

"He had a small puncture wound on his finger. It's the only thing we can think of," he said, almost apologetically.

"Oh, my g**. You're saying this is the curse?"

"Like I said, it sounds crazy, but—"

All of a sudden, the floor began to tremble. A great rumbling and cracking noise filled the air. From outside, he could hear the muffled sounds of screaming; the screech of tires; car horns blaring. Bruce raced to the window, and his jaw dropped.

 _"Oh, my g**!"_

Around the base of the tower, the earth had suddenly split open. Huge thorny vines were growing up from the rifts at an unbelievable rate, twining themselves around the tower. They were as thick as telephone poles, the thorns easily twelve inches long. People were screaming on the floors below, but as the wall of vines grew higher, an unnatural silence stole over the tower. The air seemed to grow denser. His eyes grew heavy.

"Bruce? What's going on?" came Pepper's anxious voice from the phone. "Bruce?"

Before he could reply, the briars twisted upwards at lightning speed. They covered the windows of the medical bay, plunging the room into darkness, and that was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

"Like I said, it sounds crazy, but—"

Bruce suddenly broke off. Even over the noise of the airplane, Pepper could hear a commotion: a great rumbling, people screaming.

 _"Oh, my g**,"_ she heard him gasp.

"Bruce? What's going on?—"

There was a clattering sound, and the phone went dead.

"Bruce? Are you there? _Bruce!_ —"

She grabbed the remote for the TV at the front of the cabin and switched it on. Sure enough, there was a helicopter news feed showing Avengers Tower. Pepper's eyes widened. The building looked like it had been attacked by a rainforest—an evil, _mutant_ rainforest. Thick, thorny brambles covered it from head to foot, spreading outward at the base. Emergency vehicles were everywhere, their lights flashing. The feed switched to a reporter on the ground, who was talking loudly over the wailing sirens.

 _"—perhaps a science experiment gone horribly wrong? No one really knows,"_ she was saying. _"Authorities have reason to believe that the people who could answer our questions, the Avengers themselves, are currently trapped inside. As we speak, police and fire crews are attempting to penetrate the barrier. The public is advised that the vines are magical and extremely dangerous, so everyone should keep away from the area until—"_

She broke off with a scream as one of the vines came snaking towards them. Pepper barely caught a glimpse of several struggling policemen in the background, already entangled in the briars, before the camera was knocked over. The feed went black in a burst of static.

She stared at the screen. If she hadn't been certain before, she was now. This was the curse. It was real.

But then, how could they break it?


	6. Please Tell Me Someone Kissed Me

Chapter 5: Please Tell Me Someone Kissed Me

The taxi tore around the corner, screeching to a stop right in front of the police barrier. Pepper emerged just in time to see Natasha and Clint, their outfits torn and bloody, making another run at the briars. Having apparently returned from Russia in the interim, they were now attempting to fight their way through to the tower.

Several vines shot out towards Natasha. Clint fired a series of arrows from behind her. The vines screamed as the arrows sank into their flesh. Natasha quickly launched herself up and over their heads. A knife in each hand, she lashed out at the tendrils, but more were coming up towards her.

Clint raced forwards. Sliding under some vines as though stealing home base, he fired at the tendrils approaching Nat, only to have them turn around and target him. He quickly backed up, trying to draw them away from her. One of them grabbed him by the ankle, sweeping him off his feet. Unable to shoot at such close range, he seized an arrow from his quiver and plunged it into the offending branch like a dagger. Almost instantly, however, another vine lashed itself around his neck.

Natasha saw Clint being lifted, thrashing, into the air. She seized another knife from her boot, preparing to hurl it at the branch strangling him. However, with inhuman speed, the vines shot out, lashing themselves around her wrists and ankles and pulling her taut, like a medieval prisoner on the rack.

"Clint!" she yelled, looking at her partner's purpling face. His forearms strained against the vine choking him. Suddenly, his gaze found something behind her. Natasha turned to see Pepper in her white business suit, running straight towards the vines.

 _"No…!"_ choked Clint. _"No—too_ _ _—_ dangerous!..." _

"Pepper, stay back!" Nat yelled. "We've got this!"

But Pepper kept going. Her whole body trembled as she approached the briars. She stretched out her hand. If she was right—

Sure enough, before she could touch them, the vines shivered and began to retreat. Clint stopped struggling. He and Natasha stared in shock as Pepper made her way carefully over to them, the vines pulling back to create a path wherever she walked. It was like she was surrounded by an invisible forcefield, a halo of protection. When she finally got close enough for Nat and Clint to be inside her magic circle, the brambles released them. Clint crashed to the ground, his chest heaving. Natasha scrambled over to him.

"Clint. It's gonna be okay. Breathe," she commanded. "Clint. Look at me."

He looked up at her, croaking as he replied. "Gladly."

"Are you alright, Barton?" said Pepper. Natasha rolled her eyes, standing up.

"He'll be fine."

" _Oof._ " Clint hoisted himself unceremoniously to his feet. "Next time, remind me to bring some pruning shears."

"How did you do this?" Natasha asked Pepper, gesturing to the vines, which were lying as still and docile as a pet dog at its mistress' feet. She shook her head.

"I'm not exactly sure."

"Kinda wish we'd waited till you got here," said Clint. "We could've saved ourselves a whole lot of trouble."

"I don't know," said Pepper. "I wasn't even sure it would work."

"Well, now that we know it does, can you take us to the tower?" Clint asked, glancing behind them at the building. To their surprise, though, Pepper shook her head.

"No. I'm sorry. This is something I have to do alone."

"What? Why?" said Clint. "You think we're just going to let you march in there all by yourself?-"

He looked to Natasha, clearly expecting her to back him up on this, but she was watching Pepper closely. After a moment, she closed her mouth and nodded.

"Okay. Just be careful."

"Um, did I miss something?" Clint looked back and forth between the two of them. "Was that some sort of sisterly-telepathy thing that I-" He broke off as Nat gave him a look. "Okay, never mind. I'll shut up."

Pepper walked them out of the briars, before she turned and headed back through. The Avengers watched the vines seal up after her.

"You're sure she'll be alright?" Clint asked.

"Yeah." Natasha nodded, but her gaze was locked on the place where Pepper had vanished. "She'll be fine."

* * *

The sounds of cars and commotion had been deafening on the outside, but the instant the briars sealed behind Pepper, everything went eerily silent, like a TV placed on mute. The air felt thicker, foggier; even the colors seemed more muted.

She entered the Tower's darkened lobby, glancing around. None of the lights appeared to be working; only the emergency lights allowed her to see the security guard slumped over his desk at the station. She raced over to the man, feeling for a pulse. It was strong and steady, his breathing deep and even. He was asleep. Of course. The entire castle—or rather, Tower—must be asleep.

She hoped no one had gotten hurt, but she didn't have time to check on everyone. The batteries in the emergency lights wouldn't last forever. Grabbing the flashlight from the security guard's belt, she made her way up the stairs to the medical bay.

Inside, she found Bruce unconscious on the floor, his phone lying nearby. He didn't look like he'd been injured when he collapsed, which was a relief. But Tony—

Pepper bit her lip, tears rising at the sight of his still form in the bed. His face was pale in the dim light. The screen on the heart monitor beside him was black, but she could see his chest rising and falling rhythmically. She hadn't seen him sleep so peacefully in months.

She approached the bed, taking a deep breath. Oh, g**. Could this possibly work? It felt kind of creepy. He was unconscious, for g**'s sake!

"Tony, if this doesn't work, we'll keep trying," she whispered. "I promise, I'll never stop trying until you're back."

She leaned down, her soft fingers tracing down the stubble on his cheek. She pressed her lips to his.

 _"I love you."_

As she pulled away, the whole room suddenly seemed to take a breath. The lights flickered back on; the colors returned; the fogginess fled from the air. Tony gave a small start, his cheeks flooding with color. His eyes drifted open.

"Hmm…?" he groaned, squinting. "Whuzzgoinon?"

Pepper stood frozen, one hand pressed over her mouth in utter shock. Nearby, Bruce stirred on the floor; they could hear sounds of life echoing from elsewhere in the building.

"Am I in the hospital? What happened? Pepper?" Tony looked at her. "G**, it's like New York all over again. Except—well, last time I worried somebody kissed me—now I kinda worry someone _didn't_." He gestured. "Did you, uh…you wouldn't happen to have just—?"

He was cut off as Pepper leapt forward, clasping his face in her hands. She was laughing and crying at the same time. As she kissed him again, Tony figured that probably the best thing to do was just to shut up and kiss her back, so he did.


	7. Second Helpings

Chapter 6: Second Helpings

As the elevator shot up towards the roof, Tony glanced at himself in the mirrored walls, adjusting his tie. When the doors slid open, he saw Pepper waiting for him, standing in front of a table set for a beautiful candlelit dinner. He blinked as she walked towards him.

"Damn. You look gorgeous."

"I know." She smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"What's all this?" he asked, gesturing to the table.

"Your birthday surprise. Or at least, it was supposed to be, before you ended up in the hospital."

"That's a delicate way of putting it. Oh, is _this_ why you were so distant on my birthda—I mean, is this why I couldn't get in touch with you the other day?"

"Nice save," she said as they sat down. "Yes, it was supposed to be something special."

"If you _really_ wanted to give me something special, you _could_ just take that dress off, as amazing as it is," he said suggestively. Pepper gave him a dry smile.

"Later. Now, do you want an appetizer?"

"Well, it depends. Are we talking salad, or something more like artichoke dip? 'Cause if we're talking artichoke dip, then hell yes. Also, hey, Dum-E," he called to his robot. "Are you gonna serve us our wine, or just stand there eavesdropping on our conversation?"

The robot beeped an apology, moving forward to set a plate of tiny little crab cakes on the table. The ones Tony had said he could never resist.

"I'm sorry you didn't get your party," she said.

"No, it's okay. I mean, this is fine," he said. "Great, actually. Yeah. This is great."

"Are you okay?"

He leaned forward.

"So, uh, exactly _how_ many people know about this whole 'Sleeping Beauty' thing, again?"

"They haven't been teasing you, have they?"

"Nah, I'm just trying to calculate how many months it'll take me to live this down."

"Oh, Tony. They were definitely much easier to persuade about it than _you_ were after you woke up."

"Well, I mean, to be fair, when a guy wakes up in the hospital, it's not usually 'cause he's waking from an enchanted sleep." He shook his head. "G**, that still sounds so weird. If Fury hadn't confirmed that that witch actually _did_ escape from the pages of a magic storybook, I'm not sure I'd believe it."

"I'm still not sure I believe _you_ that you do," she said. Tony shrugged.

"Fair enough."

She reached across the table for his hand. He caught the scent of her favorite cocoa butter lotion.

"So…you really think it _was_ a fairy-tale thing?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yes."

"So then, when you kissed me, it was…True Love's Kiss?" He tried to sound nonchalant. "Isn't that what usually breaks the spell in these kinds of stories?"

"I guess so."

"Huh." He suddenly found he couldn't hold her gaze. "Wonder if there's gonna be a 'happily ever after' in it for us, too."

"Let's just take it one day at a time for now." Pepper smiled. Tony smiled back.

"Works for me."

They ate their crab cakes in relative quiet. Towards the end, he looked up from his plate to see her staring at him.

"What?"

"I just can't believe I almost lost you," she said.

"Oh, come on. I was just asleep, that's all. Well, okay, asleep for pretty much _forever_ , but still—"

"You don't think this is a big deal? The fact that you almost died?"

"I've almost died a lot of times before," he said. "This is different."

"Because you were technically only asleep?"

"No. It's because I had you right there," he said seriously. "I know you. You'd have found a cure eventually."

She squeezed his hand. A moment passed, before Tony looked down at his plate.

"Hey, you know, these crab cakes are great, but what I really wanna know is…does True Love's Kiss offer second helpings?"

She laughed. "You've been rehearsing _that_ one for awhile, haven't you?"

He shrugged.

"Well, did it work?"

Pepper just shook her head. Pulling him up from the table, she kissed him again. He leaned into her, running a hand through her soft blond hair, and in that moment, he knew he would easily have given a hundred years just for that night, let alone an ever after.

 **The End**

* * *

 **Author's Note:  
**

 **Thanks for reading! I can't promise it's coming soon, but up next will be Steve Rogers and the Seven Dwarves (assuming I can ever get up the courage to write about my personal favorite Avenger.) Feel free to review, and I hope you have a lovely day!**

 **-EpicPenguin**


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